WO2017122225A1

WO2017122225A1 - Meeting facilitation system and method

Info

Publication number: WO2017122225A1
Application number: PCT/IN2017/050019
Authority: WO
Inventors: Amit Suresh CLOSEPET
Original assignee: Closepet Amit Suresh
Priority date: 2016-01-13
Filing date: 2017-01-12
Publication date: 2017-07-20

Abstract

A meeting facilitation system and method is disclosed wherein users may, meet other users from their field of interest at their spare time. The system provides automatic recommendations based on interests match and other similar factors. The system is further configured to register various service partners including venue partners, transportation partners, retail partners etc. The service partners may provide various discounts and offers to the users automatically based on the users' location or the location of the meeting that is finalized.

Description

Meeting facilitation system and method

[0021] The invention generally relates to a method and system of facilitating meetings between users more specifically to a social networking platform where users can meet people of their choice in their spare time.

[002] Social networking platforms which help in building social relations among people are gaining astounding popularity among users worldwide. Although with time all generations have begun to cling on to these socializing platforms, they are more precisely designed for teenagers and young crowd usage resulting in impacting their lives greatly.

[003] May be because of the reason that young crowd is more involved in online socializing, these socializing platforms are limited to making friends or meeting people with common friends. Friend suggestions on social networking platforms are purely based on the people belonging to same school, college, local community, work place, location, etc.

[004] With intellectual advancements in online socializing, people have come up with newer ideas of socializing or meeting people with a common interest, but again, such platforms are restricted to dating or match making where one can meet people with common interest and preferred personal traits. Very common heard complaint about these dating platforms is lack of safety.

[005] There are almost no platforms in existence, which can allow users to meet people of their interest or people from their field of interest at their location in a secured and automated way. A platform, which offers users an easy access to people of their choice and allows them to enhance their knowledge in their field of interest at their spare time, is what the world needs.

[006] To overcome the above mentioned drawbacks and fulfill the necessary socializing requirements, there is a need for a platform where users can physically meet people of their interest and can make healthy conversation, which ends up with fruitful results like boosting knowledge for one and earning profitable fee for another at their spare time.

Object of Invention

The principal object of this invention is to facilitate users to meet other users of their choice or from their field of interest. The process is facilitated by a platform that enables users to register themselves onto it and generates recommendations regarding other user’s availability in the location.

[008] The invention talks about a meeting facilitation system and method, where the system involves a first and a second user devices configured with registration modules that helps the first and second user get registered themselves to the meeting facilitation platform. A server, in communication with first and second device, is configured to receive first and second user information along with the geolocation coordinates. Further, a processor is disposed within the server, the processor is configured with a recommendation engine to match first user information and second user information to facilitate a meeting set up at a meeting venue.

[009] Furthermore, a service partner database is in communication with the processor wherein the processor is configured with a partner registration module configured to send alerts to registered service partners provided in the database based on proximity of the service partners to the meeting venue.

This invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, throughout which, like reference letters indicate corresponding parts in the various figures.

The embodiments herein will be better understood from the following description with reference to the drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 depicts/illustrates a meeting facilitating network system, in accordance with an embodiment of the invention.

[0013] Fig. 2 depicts/illustrates the process of a meeting facilitating platform, in accordance with an embodiment of the invention.
[0014] Fig. 3 depicts/illustrates details of a server, in accordance with an embodiment of the invention.
[0015] Fig. 4 depicts/illustrates details of multiple partners associated with the meeting facilitating platform, in accordance with an embodiment of the invention.
[0016] Fig. 5 depicts a method of the meeting facilitating platform, in accordance with an embodiment of the present subject matter.
[0017] Fig. 6 depicts further methods of FIG.5, in accordance with an embodiment of the present subject matter.

The embodiments herein, the various features, and advantageous details thereof are explained more fully with reference to the non-limiting embodiments that are illustrated in the accompanying drawings and / or detailed in the following description. Descriptions of well-known components and processing techniques are omitted to not unnecessarily obscure the embodiments herein. The examples used herein are intended merely to facilitate an understanding of ways in which the embodiments herein may be practiced and to further enable those of skill in the art to practice the embodiments herein. Accordingly, the examples should not be construed as limiting the scope of the embodiments herein.

[0019] The embodiments below provide a method and system for a meeting facilitating platform which helps users to socialize by meeting other users of their choice or the users from their field of interest at their location. The system involves a first and a second user devices configured with registration modules that helps the first and second user get registered themselves to the meeting facilitation platform. A server, in communication with first and second device, is configured to receive first and second user information along with the geolocation coordinates. Further, a processor is disposed within the server, the processor is configured with a recommendation engine to match first user information and second user information to facilitate a meeting set up at a meeting venue.

[0020] Furthermore, a service partner database is in communication with the processor wherein the processor is configured with a partner registration module configured to send alerts to registered service partners provided in the database based on proximity of the service partners to the meeting venue.

[0021] Fig. 1 depicts a meeting facilitating network system 100, in accordance with an embodiment of the invention. The network system 100 includes one or

more users

110 or 120,a server 130 coupled to a database or data repository 150 and a network 160.Each

user

110 or 120 may have a computing device with which the

user

110 or 120 can register and login to the platform 140. The registration may involve the

user

110 or 120 providing his/her personal details including profession, interests/hobbies and the like.

[0022] Entered personal details are transferred to the server 130 via the network 160. The server 130 may process the received information, update and store the processed information in the database 150. The server 130 may update these details to all registered users at a specific location via the network 160. Each of the computing devices of corresponding users are enabled with inbuilt GPS through which user’s 110 or 120 location information is updated to the server 130 via the network 160. Such location information may be useful in identifying the nearby other users who is interested in meeting the

users

110 or 120.

[0023] Once the registration is completed and availability is acknowledged, the platform 140 may notify the

user

110 or 120 on two things; it notifies other users in the location who are interested in meeting the

present user

110 or 120 and it also notifies the

present user

110 or 120 about the other users in the location in whom the

present user

110 or 120 might be interested in meeting. Further, considering the user’s interests/hobbies and availability, the platform 140 may also generate automated recommendations on whom to meet in the nearby location. The physical meeting of two users may be fixed by one user sending meeting invitation to another user he is interested in. The user who accepts the sent invitation specifies his/her fee for a specific span of meeting.

[0024] One skilled in the art, may recognize that the network 160 can be various types of networks, such as intranet, Local area network (LAN), Wide area network (WAN), internet, wifi, wimax, WLAN, WIFI, routers, bridges, GSM, 2G, 3G, LTE etc. Further, one skilled in the art may recognize that the computing device(s) can be of various types, but are not limited, to smart phones, GPS enabled laptops, mobile phones, tablets, PDA, GPS enabled notebook computers, etc.

[0025] In an exemplary embodiment referring to Fig 1, let us consider a user 110, who is interested in photography, is at some location and has few spare hours at his/her hand, at such provision the user 110 may login to the platform 140 through his/her computing device and show his/her availability. After logging into the platform 140, the user 110 may be notified with the availability of another user 120 who is a professional photographer and who is also registered in the platform 140. The first user 110 may send the meeting invitation to the second user 120. Upon receiving a meeting invitation from the first user 110, second user 120 may display his consultation fee for specific time. Once the first user 110 agrees on the fee, the meeting may be fixed by the platform 140 without involving any phone calls or text messages.

[0026] In one embodiment, a service partner database, which includes all the service partners registered with the processor 130, is in communication with the processor 130 wherein the processor 130 is configured to send alerts to service partners based on the proximity of said service partners to allotted meeting venue.

[0027] Referring to Fig. 2, the process 200 of meeting people at a specific location can be explained when a user 110 logs in to the meeting facilitating platform 140 and specify his/her availability 142, the platform 140 provides user 110 with two option, one is that the platform 140 notifies user 110 on the presence of people in the location who are interested in meeting the user 110 (block 144); after selecting a specific person, the user 110 may accept the meeting invitation from that person (block 146); the step is followed by notifying that specific person about the user 110 consultation fee (block 148); once the other person accepts the fee, the meeting may be arranged between that person and the user 110 (block 150)

[0028] The second option provided by the platform 140 is to recommend on people in whom user 110 may be interested in (block 160), these generated recommendations are based on, but not limited to, the user 110 interests/hobbies and the location. The user 110 can select a person from the list of recommendations and send invitation to that person (block 162); now the user 110 is informed with the consultation fee of that person for a specific span, upon the accepting the consultation fee quoted (block 164), the meeting between the user 110 and the person is arranged (block 150)

[0029] In one embodiment, if two or more users want to meet the same person then the platform 140 provides an option of bidding (not shown in the Fig) the consultation fee. User with a high bid may get the opportunity to meet that specific person.

[0030] In one embodiment, the platform 140 is configured to receive notifications from the service partners at the proximity of meeting venue, which are previously registered with the server, and display such notifications to atleast one user. The service partners include, but not limited to, retail partner, transport partner and venue partner.

[0031] Fig. 3 depicts/illustrates details of a server 302, in accordance with an embodiment of the invention. The server includes a processor 304, a communication network module (not shown in the Fig), registration module 306, location determination module 308, recommendation engine 310, search engine 312, invitation processing module 314, and fee specifying and bid processing module 316, meeting story validation engine 318 and service partner registration module 320. The above modules and engines (as in Fig. 3) are coupled to the processor 304, where the processor 304 is configured to fetch and execute the method that are stored as instructions in the modules and engines (as in Fig. 3). The communication network module is configured to communicate with computing devices via the network (not shown in the Fig. 3) for receiving from the computing devices via the platform via the network, and transferring the processed information from the server 302 to the platform via the network.

[0032] One skilled in the art, may recognize that the communication network module can be various types of networks such as WLAN, WIFI, routers, bridges, hub, cables etc. with wired or wireless internet connection for receiving and/or transferring the information to and fro between the server and the computing device via the network

[0033] The server 302 is provided with a user registration module 306 where users can login to the platform and create their individual profiles by providing there personal details including profession, interests/hobbies and the like. Once the profile is created, location determination module 308 positions the exact location of logged user. To locate the position of the user, the system may use, but not limited to, Global positioning system (GPS). The recommendation engine 310 generates recommendations on people nearby who are also registered with the platform based on hobbies or interests of one user with the expertise of another user. From the generated recommendation list, user can select any person of his choice.

[0034] In another embodiment, the platform provides user with an option of searching for a person of his choice in either the present locality or in any other locations. This activity is taken care by the search engine 312.

[0035] Referring to Fig 3, once the user is selected, sending/receiving meeting invitation to/from the selected user is carried out through invitation processing module 314. Upon sending/receiving invitations, consultation fee for a specific span of meeting of a specific user is notified from/to other user interested in him/her through fee specifying and bid processing module 316. Further, the fee specifying and bid processing module 316 takes care of the situation where two or more users are interested in meeting the same person by allowing the users to bid for the person. The user with highest bid may get the opportunity to meet that person.

[0036] Once the consultation fee is fixed, the physical meeting between two people may be arranged. After meeting, the user can engrave meeting story on the platform to share his experience of how the meeting went and how useful it was to the user. Such built story is validated by meeting story validation engine 318 and rated. The platform rates the meeting story in a unique way by considering several factors such as number words in the story, number of times the words erased and re-written, time taken to write the story, number of photos attached, distance from user’s home to the place where meeting happened, number of times other users read the story and also, the number of times the story shared among other users.

[0037] Further, the user can maintain a story book of his own (not shown in the Fig) on the platform, which includes several meeting stories of the user. This stories along with the ratings for each story can be collectively called as user scrap book.

[0038] Referring to the Fig.3, the platform server 302 is provided with the service partner registration unit 320 configured to allow various vendors to register and provide their service information to facilitate users during meetings. The details of all the service providers are fetched from the service partner database 340, which is in communication with the processor 304. As the user devices are enabled with GPS modules, the server 302 is capable of receiving geolocation coordinates from the user devices. Based on the combined proximity of geolocation coordinates of (atleast) two user devices from the geolocation coordinate of the meeting venue, the partner registration module alerts and enables the service partners to notify the users on their offers.

[0039] The service partners can be retail partners, venue partners, transport partners and others. The main motto of all these service partners is to ease the meeting conditions and help users to have a sophisticated experience and in turn attract as many customers as possible for themselves.

[0040] The roles of service partners associated with the platform may be explained with the help of Fig 4 which illustrates the details 400 of multiple partners associated with the meeting facilitating platform. The platform 140 may have various service partners like retail partner 406, transport partner 408 and venue partner 410. For instance consider, user one 402 fixes meeting with user two 404, as its already discussed, the geolocation coordinates of both user one 402 and user two 404 are sent to the server (not shown in the fig). Based on the combined proximity of geolocation coordinates of both the users (402 and 404), the service partners in the location get notified.

[0041] In furtherance to above explanation, the users who are taking part in the meeting may first look for a venue at the present location to meet, here where the venue partners 410 come in. The venues registered with the platform 140 at a particular location such as restaurants, café shops, sports bars, etc get the notifications about the meeting between user one 402 and user two 404 and offer different deals to have the meeting at their place. The users can pick better deal amongst and organize their meeting at the selected venue. For example, the offers from the different venues may include dinner at Rs.800, coffee with snacks at 30%, pizza at buy one get one free and many more.

[0042] Transport partners 408 including taxicabs, auto rickshaws, etc which are registered with the platform 140 can be used by the users to reach the venue. Again selecting a particular transport among many with different offers is solely user decision. The platform 140 may further involve retail partners 406 such as shopping malls or any other shopping showrooms which offer users with shopping vouchers and gift coupons at a lower cost than usual. Consider for an example, if user one 402 meets user two 404 by accepting to a pay a consultation fee of rs.500, in such case retails partners 406 may offer a shopping voucher or a gift coupon worth of rs.600 at rs.400. This way user one 402 will get to pay less and user two 404 will get to earn.

[0043] In accordance with the aforementioned embodiments, the platform 140 implemented using the software technologies such as ASP.Net MVC, ASP.Net Web API, HTML5, etc. that are compatible with smart devices.

[0044] Fig. 5 depicts a method 500 of the meeting facilitating platform, in accordance with an embodiment of the present subject matter. The method may be described in the general context of computer executable instructions. The method can be implemented in any software, hardware, firmware, or combination thereof. The method 500 involves the steps to be performed by the various modules and engines of the server 302and processed by the processor as in Fig. 3.

[0045] The method 500 involves the steps of enabling a user to register himself/herself to the platform with his/her user information (step 502), where the user information includes user specific data like name, age, profession, interests and the like. The data along with the geolocation coordinates of first and second user devices are sent to a server. Based the information received, automatic recommendations (step 504) on the people present at the proximity are generated in order to provide the user with the multiple options to select from. The user to may search and select the person that meets his/her requirement from the generated recommendations (step 508) and the user is enabled to look upon and decide a fee for the person of his/her choice (510) and meet the person in a pre-defined venue. Further, alerts are sent to the service partners provided in a service partner database based on the service partners’ proximity to said meeting venue.

[0046] Fig. 6 depicts further method 600 of FIG.5, in accordance with an embodiment of the present subject matter. The method 600 may be described in the general context of computer executable instructions. The method 600involvesfurther steps to be performed by the various modules and engines of the server 302 and processed by the processor as in Fig. 3.

[0047] The method 600 of meeting facilitating platform involves further steps transmitting geolocation coordinates of first user device through a first GPS unit (step 602), transmitting geolocation coordinates of second user device through a second GPS unit (step 604) and calculating combined proximity of geolocation coordinates of first device and second device from geolocation coordinates of a meeting venue (step 606). Further, permitting service partners to send service offers to atleast one of the user devices based on the combined proximity (step 608).

The foregoing description of the specific embodiments will so fully reveal the general nature of the embodiments herein that others can, by applying current knowledge, readily modify and/or adapt for various applications such specific embodiments without departing from the generic concept, and, therefore, such adaptations and modifications should and are intended to be comprehended within the meaning and range of equivalents of the disclosed embodiments. It is to be understood that the phraseology or terminology employed herein is for the purpose of description and not of limitation. Therefore, while the embodiments herein have been described in terms of preferred embodiments, those skilled in the art will recognize that the embodiments herein can be practiced with modification within and scope of the embodiments as described herein.

Claims

1. A meeting facilitation system, comprising:
a first device configured with a registration module enabled to receive and transmit a first user information,
a second device configured with said registration module enabled to receive and transmit a second user information,
a server in communication with said first device and said second device said server configured to receive said first user and said second user information from said first device and said second device respectively,
a processor disposed within said server, said processor configured with a recommendation engine to match said first user information and said second user information to facilitate a meeting set up at a meeting venue, and
a service partner database in communication with said processor wherein said processor is configured with a partner registration module configured to send alerts to registered service partners provided in said database based on proximity of said service partners to said meeting venue..

2. The meeting facilitation system as claimed in claim 1 further comprising:
a first GPS unit disposed within said first device said GPS unit configured to transmit geolocation coordinates of said first device,
a second GPS unit disposed within said second device said GPS unit configured to transmit geolocation coordinates of said second device,
said server configured to receive said geolocation coordinates of said first device and said second device, and
said partner registration module configured to enable said service partners to send service offers to atleast one of said first user or said second user based on a combined proximity of said geolocation coordinates of said first device and said second device from geolocation coordinates of said meeting venue thereby verifying the high probability of said first user and second user initiating the meeting.

3. The meeting facilitation system as claimed in claim 1 further comprising said recommendation engine configured to match said first user information with said second user information based on hobbies or interests of said first user with the expertise of said second user.

4. The meeting facilitation system as claimed in claim 1 further comprising said service partner database storing information pertaining to at least one of transportation service partners, venue partners and retail partners.

5. A meeting facilitation method, comprising:
receiving information pertaining to a first user through a first device,
receiving information pertaining to a second user through a second device,
transmitting said first user information from said first user device and said second user information from said second user device to a server,
recommending a potential meeting between said first user and said second user based on a match of said first user information with said second user information,
facilitating said meeting set up at a meeting venue automatically based on consent of said first user and said second user to meet each other, and
sending alerts to service partners provided in a service partner database based on said service partners’ proximity to said meeting venue.

6. The meeting facilitation method as claimed in claim 5 further comprising:
transmitting geolocation coordinates of said first device through a first GPS unit,
transmitting geolocation coordinates of said second device through a second GPS unit,
permitting said service partners to send service offers to atleast one of said first user or said second user based on a combined proximity of said geolocation coordinates of said first device and said second device from geolocation coordinates of said meeting venue.

7. The meeting facilitation method as claimed in claim 5 further comprising recommending said meeting between said first user and said second user based on a match of said first user’s hobbies or interests with said second user’s expertise

8. The meeting facilitation method as claimed in claim 5 further comprising storing details of atleast one of transportation service partners, venue partners or retail partners in said service partner database.